


Not-So-Happy Returns

by WolfenM



Series: Here's Looking at You, Kid [1]
Category: Journey into Mystery, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Thor (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Big Brothers, Bromance, Brother Feels, Brotherhood, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Love, Character Study, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Good Loki, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Loki, Loki Angst, Loki Feels, Loki Needs a Hug, Loki Redemption, Loki-centric, Missing Scene, Poor Loki, Protective Thor, Redemption, Thor Feels, Thor Is a Good Bro, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-16 04:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3475040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfenM/pseuds/WolfenM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki, after supposedly sacrificing himself in battle, has returned to the Asgardians, in the body of a child. Is <i>anyone</i> happy to see him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Oath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Missing scene, explaining how Thor's friends came to swear an oath to keep Loki safe -- and how that oath might not be enough ....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: includes a brutal beating (not too graphic, but still) of a young teen.
> 
> Spoilers: for the _Thor_ comic, aka _Journey Into Mystery_ , issues #606 on, as well as for _The Mighty Thor_ #1 onwards.
> 
> This fic was originally published in June of 2011, at deviantART. While I do like Thorki/Thunderfrost, this is NOT a slash Thorki fic.
> 
> Disclaimer: This version of Thor, Loki, The Warriors Three (Fandral, Volstagg, Hogun), Sif, Jane Foster, and Eric Solvang © Marvel Entertainment. I'm just borrowing them the way they borrowed from the original myths. :P
> 
> Note: While this story is always in third person, the guide below explains from whose view each section is:  
> “| ==V== |” means the section directly following it is from Loki's POV.  
> c===[] means the section directly following it is from Thor's POV.

“| ==V== |”  
Loki was enjoying himself.

Granted, few were talking to him, but at least most people were just politely ignoring him. That was a huge improvement on days gone by, when open disdain had been the best he could hope for from most beings — and outright hostility had been far more common. Well, okay, not that he really remembered all that — not clearly, anyway. His memories, thanks to a side effect of his resurrection (probably because he'd been brought back as a youth instead of an adult) were extremely hazy. But he had a gut feeling — one that was backed up by the reactions of the citizens when he'd first arrived with Thor, earlier that day — that he'd been generally reviled most everywhere he went. 

Sif, he saw, was putting on a brave face (as if she had any other kind) over his return, refraining from speaking her feelings aloud, but she was no dissembler: there was no hiding the dismay and worry in her eyes. The Warriors didn't look very thrilled either, but also said nothing, likely out of deference to Thor.

At any rate, tonight, the people of Asgard were celebrating a success: Thor had split Yggdrasil in two, and in doing so had trapped the invading Dark Gods within it, saving both the city of Asgard and the realm of Midgard, where Asgard now resided. In their joy, the Asgardians seemed to forget that Loki was the one who, in his previous-but-recent life, had brought about the fall of Asgard in the first place. He knew they hadn't forgotten, not really: they, like Sif and the Warriors, only tolerated Loki out of gratitude to Thor. Tonight, they would drink and be merry; there would be plenty of time to ... discuss the matter of Thor's indiscretion in resurrecting the God of Mischief on the morrow.

Loki figured he would appreciate the reprieve while it lasted.

Loki's own gift to the hero of the hour was to squash down the bitter jealousy that bubbled inside him whenever he saw his brother with Sif or the Warriors Three. Loki knew his old self had been largely driven by jealousy, and it had led, over and over, to a poor end — an end that had destroyed all he had loved, his brother (and, admittedly, himself) included. He couldn't imagine hating Thor like that; he felt nothing but love for his brother now, Thor being the only person who loved him back. He wouldn't lose that, would do nothing to risk it. He would gladly share Thor's attention with Sif and the Warriors, if it made Thor happy to be with them — especially since they, too, loved Thor.

Loki would never again be a burden to Thor, would not bring his brother misery or deny him all the love he so deserved.

That was how good people lived, right? There was a song Loki had heard ... how did it go? If you love someone, set them free ....

So, when he saw Thor and Sif snuggling together by a fire, he decided to leave with the mortals Eric and Jane, the woman promising to take him to the home of Thor's human persona, Donald Blake. He would sleep there for the night, let Thor and Sif enjoy one another's company without the complication that was the "unwanted, resurrected Loki" hovering around.

"If he asks, tell Thor that I am going to his mortal home," Loki told Volstagg.

"Fine, fine," Volstagg said with a dismissive wave and a swig of mead.

Loki sighed and turned to the humans. He would have told Fandral instead, the man being a little friendlier (and more reliable), but the loverboy was .... involved with several someones at that moment, and Loki was as reluctant to disturb the swordsman as he was to bother Thor.

As he took a last glance at Thor, his brother laughing with Sif and their many friends and admirers, Loki felt a painfully familiar sensation: an aching loneliness. He might not remember much of his actions, but he suspected the feeling had been far too ingrained in all his past lives to ever be able to forget it.

He just wasn't sure if the loneliness had been the result of his actions or the instigator of them. 

He blinked away sudden tears, composing himself, and the pang of loneliness (mostly) faded as he turned to the mortals. There was a slight wariness in their eyes, yes, but such kindness in their smiles! It was the same kindness that was in Thor, the kindness that made everyone love the man. Loki would be as safe from these mortals, he suspected, as from Thor himself. They had been the ones to reassure him that Thor loved him, would always take care of him, after all, and had asked him not to wander off. Why make such assurances to him, and act concerned for his well-being, if they didn't have his best interests in heart?

There was a flaw in Loki's plan, though. He'd made the mistake of thinking that, just because it seemed like every Asgardian had been ignoring him all evening, that they really were. His reprieve was apparently up the next morning — despite his having left, hate still found him.

c===[]  
His thoughts wrapped in a balmy haze born of mead, food, and the lingering buzz of battle, compounded by the soft-skinned Sif in his arms, Thor looked about at his friends, his people, plagued by the strangest sensation that he was forgetting about something. Something that was now missing.

Usually when something was missing, it left a cold feeling of empty space, but Thor was thoroughly warm — too warm. In fact ... that was the problem. There had been a comforting cold spot just behind him, with an odd sense of weight instead of space to it, and now it was gone, leaving a hot void behind ....

Memory snapped everything into focus. He remembered who had been sitting behind him, the shy child seeking shelter behind his bulk, his fame. The memory dispelled the heat, leaving a different, desolate chill.

Where is Loki?

Sif must have felt him tense. "What's wrong?" she asked before he could even voice his own question aloud.

"Where is my brother?"

He didn't like the wary look on her face as she glanced about. He was worried for Loki's safety, but she, he could tell, was more worried about what the boy was up to. Part of him knew that she — perhaps more than anyone — had every right to jump to such a conclusion, but knowing that the woman he loved could hate the other being he loved best made him heartsick. Whatever the risk, he had chosen to believe in Loki; if she couldn't trust Thor enough to do the same, what hope was there that any of their people would ever come around? What kind of life could Loki have if everyone held him at arm's length and assumed the worst of him before he'd even had a chance to be the best?

Perhaps Thor had been selfish in bringing Loki back.

Well, then, so be it. He was selfish. He'd learn to live with it — and find a way for everyone else to live with Loki.

"Oh, that's right — the little one left with the man with big thoughts, and Jane," Volstagg hiccupped. "Said he would be staying in your Midgard home."

"He what?" Thor roared, rising to his feet and making to leave. 

Sif grabbed his arm. "The boy cannot live in the protection of your shadow forever, my love. Loki has made it this long on his own; he will be all right until the morrow."

Thor pulled away. "Is that really what you think?" he snapped. "Or are you actually hoping something might befall him, now that he is away from me?"

The fire in Sif's eyes wasn't, he thought, just a reflection of the fire beside them — nor did it bode well for him. "You assume the worst of me before you assume it of him?" she snarled back. Then, inexplicably, she softened. "I will not deny that I fear for your life — all our lives — with him around, but for your sake, despite my better judgement, I would not raise a hand against him. This I swear, on my sword, my honour, my life, and my love," she added, slapping her fist to her shoulder in a salute. "There. Is that enough for you to trust that I mean Loki no ill will, however ill I consider him?"

A little dumbstruck, Thor nodded. "I ... I am sorry, beloved." He took her hand and kissed it.

She cupped his cheek with her free hand and smiled ruefully. "I am sorry too, my love — you know my heart well enough to have had good reason to be wary of my actions. There is no love lost between your brother and I. It is only for your sake that I restrain myself, and I would be lying if I said I was happy about this. But I also understand why you did it. I know you would do the same for me."

Thor nodded, heart heavy. Then he looked around, saw the looks of disgust in the crowd where there had been merriment moments before, and his anger returned. Holding Sif's hand tightly, absorbing her strength — and her patience — he faced the crowd. "Still, there are many that I do not love so very well, and their intentions are circumspect yet," he growled, glancing about. "I know that, if Loki should prove false once again, all of you will hold me accountable for what I have done: I accept this. But until he commits a crime, he is but an innocent boy, and I will hold each of you accountable if he should be harmed. If you be my ally, you can put my mind at ease by swearing here and now that you will consider him a newborn babe, his slate clean, and not raise your hands against him without just cause. I will know your love for me by this — and likewise know my enemies," he added, clenching a fist.

His heart eased a little when the Warriors Three approached and, though they'd looked no happier about Loki's resurrection than Sif had, each swore that Loki was safe in their company; it was a step beyond swearing not to harm the boy, for it meant that they would protect him as well, at least so long Loki was in their sight. Thor nodded at each of them, these men that he also loved as brothers, in gratitude. 

Others followed, hesitantly at first, but soon Thor lost track of how many. It didn't guarantee Loki's absolute safety — he couldn't be sure that everyone would swear, much less mean it — but even the possibility of one less threat gave him some sense of relief.

"My lord?" a woman — Greta, he believed her name was — stood beside him with a tray filled with steins of mead. He nodded his thanks and took one, swallowing half the contents in one gulp as the next person to swear the oath approached. Suddenly tired, he sat down; when there was another gap in the oathmakers, he closed his eyes for a moment ....

 

“| ==V== |”  
Jane and Eric had insisted on staying with Loki at the home of Donald Blake. He, in turn, had insisted that Jane take the bed and Eric the couch, while he took the floor, pointing out that he was younger and, having been homeless for a while, was used to sleeping on the ground. But whether it was the floor or his precarious existence to blame, Loki slept but fitfully. He rose with the sun and, still clad only in the trousers he'd slept in, wandered barefooted outside, feeling stifled by the four walls after his days spent living outdoors.

"So the little snake has slithered outside of its hole," a voice rumbled behind him.

Turning, Loki found a double-handful of Asgardians approaching from the back of the house.

He should have stayed indoors.

"Thor is not here," Loki said, the hairs standing up on the back of his neck. He knew very well that these people were not here to see his brother, but he's found that keeping up appearances, projecting a sense of calm, as if nothing was amiss, was something of an instinct for him, an act as natural as breathing.

"Good," the speaker sneered, slapping a club against his palm. "We overheard you agree to come here with the humans, and Greta has been here before, so she knew where to find you," he added, gesturing with the club to a grim-faced woman with another cudgel.

Okay, maybe Loki needed to practise this whole "lulling people into a sense of complacency" thing.

Even as the Asgardians surrounded him, he didn't cry out for help; there was no one about to hear if he did, save for the mortals, Jane and Eric. He decided now that it had been a mistake to have left with them in the first place. Not that he had ever held any illusions that they could protect him, but he also hadn't considered the fact that being with them would put them in danger. He hoped that they would stay asleep through the coming ordeal; they would probably try to save him otherwise, and only be injured — maybe even killed — for their effort. Getting them killed seemed a poor way to show his gratitude for their kindness and concern.

Terrified as he was, he didn't run, either, not as he had from Odin. This event was bound to happen sooner or later; better it happen now, when Thor wasn't there to get hurt protecting him. Besides, didn't Loki owe this to the people of Asgard? Hadn't he told Thor that the things he'd done in his nightmares were worthy of the gallows? Well, the things his past self had done, but punishing his current self was, lamentably, as close as these people were ever going to get to justice.

Loki tried to stifle his cries of pain at first, so as not to waken Jane or Eric, but frankly, he just wasn't that strong. Slowly, with each blow, his assailants elicited an incrementally louder sound from his now-swollen, cut lips. Most of them only used blunt weapons, or hands, or feet, but one seemed to enjoy tracing vicious, shallow designs into bared back and arms. Loki suspected why they held back as much as they did: a quick death was a mercy his old self didn't deserve.

c===[]  
The sun poked at Thor's eyes, cruelly waking him. He was utterly confused for a long moment, before he finally recognised his surroundings. He blinked a few times as he took in the smoldering firepit and his sleeping comrades beside him — the Warriors Three, Sif, and a few handfuls of others — amid remnants of the previous night's revelry. They must have drunk and extraordinary amount of mead, he mused as he scanned the crowd, looking for his brother.

Memory struck then like a well-aimed arrow; he cried out in alarm, waking those around him.

For the love of Gaia, how could he have fallen asleep when his brother was missing?? Last he remembered, he was taking a swig of mead while people swore not to harm his brother. 

Something occurred to him then: the woman who had given him the mead had not sworn the oath herself. He knew the woman, albeit vaguely, and so would probably have remembered if she had. Come to think of it, he'd talked to her just a few days ago about the possibility of her coming to work for Donald Blake's practice, subtly using her healing magic. She had thanked him for ending the cycle, telling him of how her son had been killed as a child, time and again, by the army Loki had led. 

Thor's blood went colder than a frost giant's.

She had drugged him, as well as his friends. She had not sworn the oath. She may well have heard that Loki had left for his house; she knew where that was.

And she had a bone to pick with Loki.

Worse, she might have allies who likewise hated Loki. Well, Thor would just have to bring his _own_ allies ....

“| ==V== |”  
Loki was screaming by the time his fear was realised: Jane and Eric came racing out of the safety of the house, crying his name. Of course, they were easily held at bay by two of his assailants.

"Easy, mortals; we've no wish to harm you," the leader told them, standing with one foot on Loki, leaning on him.

Though it served to make the Midgardians more distraught, Loki didn't hold back as he sobbed into the dirt. He was certain that these Asgardians wanted the sounds, the evidence of his pain, as part of his retribution; how could he deny them it, as part of the justice he owed, and still claim that he wanted to change, to be better?

"How can you do this? He's just a child!" Jane screamed as she struggled.

"He's a god," Greta corrected. "The God of Lies, who has killed us all, over and over, through Ragnarok. He has many lifetimes behind him. He took this form in the hopes of earning sympathy, such as you insist on granting him — you have fallen for his tricks, just as Thor has. This 'child' has killed my son again and again, and so many others! My son has never seen adulthood before, because of him! Well, now that Thor has ended the cycle, this time my son will grow to manhood — because I will make sure that this monster hiding behind a youth's face won't live to destroy my son again!"

Understanding all too well, Loki felt the woman's grief as if it were his own — and also her vicious hatred for him, the self he'd once been. The self that had apparently destroyed this new life, this second chance Thor had given him, before he'd even had a chance to grow up to be a better man .... The grief hurt even more than the solid blow she then struck to his head.

c===[]  
Thor carried Sif with him as he flew back Blake's house. They drew close just in time to see Greta strike his brother, who was already down on the ground. Thor had just enough presence of mind to land and set Sif down before charging Greta with a roar, Mjolnir raised to strike.

"Brother, no ...."

Though Loki's voice was weak, to Thor it was loud as a thunderclap. Thor paused his blow just as it touched Greta's skin, but it was still enough to cause her to fall to the ground, clutching her head. Thor was vaguely aware of Sif and the Warriors incapacitating Greta's companions. He focused on the faint light of Greta's healing touch at work, and it enraged him. To think that she would heal herself after having just beaten Loki, a child, so savagely! Thor raised Mjolnir to strike again — this time, she wouldn't have a chance to heal herself ....

"Thor!" Loki called again, struggling to sit up, his arms trembling and breath rattling. "Please ... don't. They only want—" he coughed then, and Thor saw blood spatter on the ground, "... what you want: to protect those they love. You ended one cycle — don't start another." The speech apparently took a toll on Loki; the boy collapsed heavily onto his arms, alternately panting and coughing.

Thor's heart wrenched. He wanted to vent his rage, both at Greta and at himself. He should have kept a better eye on his brother, done a better job of keeping him safe. He didn't care if Loki had done things in the past that would have made him deserving of this attack. But Loki needed him now more than Thor himself needed vengeance, so he lowered Mjolnir and knelt by his brother's side, gently gathering him into his arms, the Blake part of him taking note of various wounds. Loki seemed to lose consciousness as Thor lofted him in the air, but the boy's laboured breathing was oddly reassuring, as was the beat of his pulse against Thor's chest. He was still alive, at least.

Thor faced Greta, who still sat on the ground, then swept his eyes along the rest of the crowd. Sif's and the Warriors' gazes heartened him; the rest of the Asgardians would not meet his eyes.

"You have valid concerns, I profess," Thor told the attackers. "But love, as you have just proved, does not answer to reason, and I love my brother Loki. I accept responsibility for the part I played in ensuring, time and again, the role he played in our lives, as the bringer of Ragnarok. I also do not deny his own responsibility. But did we not help to shape him, our enemy, with our own cruelties? Are we blameless? You cannot forget his misdeeds; do you so easily forget your own? The Norns wrote him as a villain even as they wrote the rest of us as heroes! Freed as we are now, from their cycle, we all have the potential in us to be evil as well as good! Is it so hard to believe that he has the same potential to be either? Does he not deserve the same chance as the rest of us to live out a new destiny? He who was tortured again and again for so long, made to feel like he was less than everyone, before giving back as good as he got from us? Will any of you step forward now to suffer punishment for your own dark deeds?"

Of course no one did.

"And do you wish to recreate the Loki that you hated anew?"

"Give him to me," Greta said quietly a few long moments later, not quite meeting Thor's eyes. "I will heal him."

Thor studied her. He decided to trust her — a little. He would not risk his brother's life on it, though. "My friends?"

Sif raises her sword above Greta's head, while the Warriors Three herded up the remaining Asgardians and surrounded them. Freed now, Eric took up a big rock and joined the Warriors (resembling nothing so much as a puppy amongst big dogs in the process, but Thor appreciated the man's intent), while Jane came to stand beside Thor.

"I'll _know_ if you're harming him," Jane promised the Greta, and Thor wasn't sure she was lying.

Greta nodded once and held out her arms. Thor forced himself to relinquish his wounded brother into her care, praying that he wasn't making a mistake. He immediately took Mjolnir up, but left it lowered at his side.

He saw Greta and Loki both surrounded by the healing glow, brighter this time. There was a sickening crack as a bone was realigned; Thor fought the urge to strike the woman, Donald telling him that it was part of the healing process, not an effort on her part to hurt Loki. Greta's power seemed to keep Loki asleep -- and, presumably, pain-free.

Sif, though, had no inner doctor to warn her.

Thankfully Jane, despite not living inside Sif's head as Sif had once lived in hers, served Sif in a capacity similar to how Donald served Thor now: she grabbed Sif's arm and pulled hard, causing the sword to go harmlessly astray.

"It's just his bones mending, Sif!" the human woman explained.

Chagrined, Sif nodded, and kept her sword lowered.

Thor turned his attention back to Loki (if it could be said to have ever really left the boy). At first, there were more popping sounds, each jolting through him like a bullet. Then, as he watched, cuts mended and bruises faded; with the loss of each, Thor felt a knot of worry unravel inside him. When all was done, though, there was one knot left. The only way it would ever unravel was if there was no more Loki around to worry about.

As he took his brother back from Greta (who swore never to allow harm to come to Loki again), and carried the sleeping boy back to Asgard, Thor promised, to Loki and to himself, that he would make sure that final knot would never come undone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I adored the "Kid Loki" arc in the comics, so of course I had to play with it a little bit. The fact that so many people in the comics seem to want Loki dead again offered a nice opportunity for some Loki-"whump". ;) (Don't ask why I love to hurt my fave characters -- it's a fetish of sorts that I don't remember ever *not* having. I can remember, at five years old, daydreaming about my fave characters getting hurt and being cared for by others. XD) Then there's the fact that the Warriors apparently swore an oath against allowing harm to come to Loki, and that Sif, despite her initial dismay, has actually come to Loki's rescue (in Mighty Thor #2), both being points that begged to be explored.
> 
> Anyway, I haven't been this excited to collect a non-manga comic book series in *years*, and I had *never* been really interested in Thor before now. If you haven't been reading it, I highly recommend picking it up. Kid Loki made his first appearance in _Thor_ #617, and _Journey Into Mystery_ (what _Thor_ was renamed to starting with #622, going back to its original title) was Kid Loki-centric till _JiM_ #645, when his arc ended.


	2. Amusement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donald and Jane do some bonding with Kid!Loki at a carnival, and they come across a strange child with ties to Loki's past. This was originally written as a separate, sequel fic to the prior chapter, The Oath. Sort of a missing scene in that it explains what happened to a certain character whose fate, as far as I know, has not come up in the comic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted at deviantART in July 2011, as a separate, sequel fic to the previous chapter.
> 
> Disclaimer: Donald Blake, Thor, Loki, Jane Foster, and Sigyn, and The Warriors Three (Fandral, Volstagg, Hogun) and Sif (just mentions of these last 4) © Marvel Entertainment. I'm just borrowing them the way Marvel borrowed from the original myths. :P
> 
> Note: While this story is always in third person, the guide below explains from whose view each section is:  
> “| ==V== |” means the section directly following it is from Loki's POV.  
> ======0 means the section directly following it is from Donald Blake's POV.

“| ==V== |”  
Loki was starting to think that the Midgardian phrase "I could eat a horse" was not hyperbole when the one saying it was one of the Aesir — or one of the Jotun, whatever applied to him. The point was, after Loki had cleaned out Donald Blake's cupboard of Pop Tarts and Cheerios that morning and then complained that he was still unbearably hungry, Thor's human alter ego had, in good humour, led him to the local diner and treated him to breakfast. In fact, Blake (or Don, as he insisted Loki call him) ordered a huge breakfast himself, but surreptitiously pushed most of it over to Loki, or snuck things one by one onto Loki's plate. Thor, through Don, explained that while Greta's healing magic had used some of her own power, the bulk of the energy used came from Loki's own body, and now it needed replenishing. Not to mention that Asgardians and Jotuns had faster-than-human metabolisms in general.

The waitress, Ella, came by, elderly hips swaying (for Don's benefit, no doubt. Loki almost lost his appetite — well, for a moment, anyway). "You know, Lucky—" that was how Don had introduced him, as his younger half-brother, Lucky, "—we're havin' a special today: all-you-can-eat pancakes!" As if he needed reminding. In fact, Don had warned him not to invoke that particular offer more than three times, and to wait as long as he could between each instance. "Don't be shy, hon! You're a growing boy!"

Loki flicked his eyes to Don, looking for approval, and Don nodded, clearly bemused. "I would like more, thank you," Loki told the woman.

Half an hour and two more servings of pancakes later, Loki's hunger was finally starting to ebb, when something huge and colourful passed outside the window. Loki's toast-and-jelly hung forgotten from his mouth as massive and strange contraptions wheeled down the street; he got jelly on the windows as he pressed his sticky fingers against the glass, enthralled. "What ... what are they?" he asked finally, the toast falling from his lips to the vinyl seat (jelly-side-up, as luck would have it). He felt his blood sing, the vehicles calling to him like a demented piper ....

Before Don could answer, Loki realised what a mess he was making of the glass. "Oh! S-sorry!" he said, trying to wipe the glass with a napkin and just making it worse as little paper fibres tore off and stuck to the jelly.

Ella came by just then, chuckling. "Don't worry about it hon, I can clean that up in a jiffy!"

Loki barely had time to register that Ella was gone before she returned, rag and cleaner in hand, making him sneeze when she got to work, spritzing the window with cleaner. 

"Oh, Lucky, honey, I hope you're not sick!" she lamented as she quickly scrubbed away the mess. "You don't want to miss the carnival!" she added, gesturing outside to the still-passing quasi-parade.

Carnival? Loki suspected that he was supposed to know what that was, so he didn't ask her for clarification — nor did he ask Don after she left, not with so many non-godly ears about. He just picked thoughtfully at the last of his food, his eyes still on the colourful and wondrous mortal devices that wended their way down the avenue.

Midgardians were suddenly a bit more interesting than he'd anticipated.

======0  
Don knew what Loki was about to ask; the boy had practically been vibrating with excitement from the moment he'd seen the first carnival ride pass by, even though it was still folded up like a Transformer. He supposed he understood why Loki's people hated him — he hadn't exactly been on good terms with the old Loki himself — but really, who could look at this kid, full of the eager curiosity of a child, and not feel a certain fondness? Who could look at this boy and see the sins of his past? Thor insisted that the darkness that had come to inhabit Loki later in life had been banished, that this Loki was the Loki of his childhood, and Don agreed. And considering how Don himself had initially come to exist, as nothing more than a creation of the gods meant for Thor to inhabit, even though Don had come to have his own sense of self and identity beyond what the gods had intended, he figured Loki was his brother, too — with or without Thor's feelings on the matter bleeding over.

"A carnival is a sort of travelling amusement park," Don explained once he'd determined that there were no patients in his home/office, only Jane. "There are rides, games with prizes, funnel cakes, popcorn, cotton candy, sometimes fortune-tellers—"

"—and what they call a 'funhouse', which is full of weird mirrors and stuff meant to scare and disorient you," Jane chimed in. "I take it there's one come to town?"

"Yup!" Loki replied, beaming. "Thank you again for the shirts, Jane!" he added, plucking at the one he was wearing: a Trickster concert shirt. (It came as no surprise that that shirt was the boy's favourite, despite him never having heard the band.) Don's clothes had been far too large for Loki, but Jane's fit pretty well. Thankfully, she had a few more unisex old clothes, running shoes and jeans. (Not that Loki seemed to care overmuch, but Don wasn't sure that many Midgardians in the area would be so welcoming of a cross-dressing teen, and such certainly would make it harder to stay under the radar ....)

"You're welcome, Loki," Jane assured him, smiling. "We'll take you to get some clothes of your own, too."

"But not tonight," Don said. "We have that carnival to attend."

Loki let out a whoop of joy, and Don couldn't help but grin. "Will you come with us, Jane?" Loki asked.

"Sure, provided I can talk the boss into it," she smirked.

Don's heart skipped a beat, but he ignored it. "I think he can be persuaded," he teased lightly, not wanting to go too far. Things were complicated now, what with Sif and Thor back together. Even though he and Thor were sort of separate people, the inhabited the same body, and Don wasn't sure Jane would want to share (how did one even ask something like that?). Don couldn't blame her if she didn't, but that didn't stop him from having feelings for her, regardless ....

"So. I think we need to lay down some ground rules," Don suggested to Loki. "One, no stealing, pick-pocketing, begging, running cons, what have you. Two, you only play the actual carnival games — no running your own game of Three-Card Monte or the Shell Game, okay?"

Loki looked a little dejected, but nodded.

"Three, you don't play games where your Asgardian abilities would give you an advantage over mortals you're competing with. And four, no pranks that might hurt someone, like giving them a heart attack or something. They have to be in the same physical state after your done with them as when you started."

Jane blinked at him, looking a little horrified. "You're letting him play pranks?"

"Jane, boys play pranks even when they aren't gods of mischief. Asking him not to would be like asking cat not to meow, a dog not to bark, and a horse not to run."

"But ...." She covered Loki's ears. "I thought the point of all this was to keep him from returning to his old ways!"

Shaking his head, Don pulled her hands away from Loki's ears. "There are a lot of Trickster figures in our mythology, legends, literature, and history who were good. Perseus, Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, Brer Rabbit, Batman, Spider-Man, Merlin, Pippi Longstocking, James Bond — they used disguises or clever ruses to stop bad guys, just like undercover cops do now. So no, I'm not going to tell him to stop being himself. I'm not going to make him feel bad and unwanted for who and what he is — instead, I'm going to help him find positive ways to use his nature."

Don knelt down then (carefully, thanks to his bum leg) and looked Loki in the eye. "You'll notice that I didn't tell you not to cheat at the carnival games. That's because sometimes carnival games are rigged so that it's impossible to win unless they want a player to -- usually a shill -- in order to entice others to play. The people that run games like this are cheaters, and could use a lesson that only a Trickster can provide. So if you see them cheating, then feel free to cheat right back."

Loki grinned and saluted Don. "Okay, boss!"

 _I hope you know what you're doing_ , Thor growled in the back of Don's mind.

 _I did when I talked you into coming back from the void and giving your people a second chance, didn't I?_ Don replied. _So trust me. You know I'm right. If you're unwilling to accept his Trickster nature or believe that it can be used for good, you shouldn't have brought him back, then._

 _... Point taken. But I will hold you responsible if he falls back into evil patterns because of this_ , Thor warned.

 _So be it_ , Don agreed.

“| ==V== |”  
They went on all the rides first (sometimes more than once), and Loki found he quite enjoyed being thrown about. Poor Jane was starting to look a little green, though, and Don looked like his leg was bothering him, so Loki suggested they take a break. Don bought them an assortment of foods: cotton candy (which was horrible), funnel cake (which was only good while it was still hot), empanadas (a hand-held pie that needed no cutlery! Genius!), and a fried onion blossom, which was Loki's favourite of the selections. And Don said there were even more treats to be had!

But those could wait. For now, it was time to try this "funhouse" thing. As they approached, though, they heard a group of teenagers, who were exiting the attraction, laughing and saying that it was "lame".

"Should we even bother?" Jane asked.

"Oh, most certainly. Even if it's really that bad, I'm sure I can make it more interesting," Loki mused.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Jane replied, sighing.

"Well, hold my hand, then," Loki offered. "You can ... _restrain_ me if I get overzealous."

Loki saw Don shoot him a bemused look that was somehow half smile, half frown; Loki could see a warning in it, telling him that he'd better not get overzealous. As Jane took his hand, Loki gave Don a sly smile in return, which resulted in Don's bemusement turning to wariness. Oh, this was going to be fun!

As they approached the entrance, there were a couple of young women ahead of them. Loki nearly walked right into one of them when she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Kara, I changed my mind," she was saying. "I don't wanna go in. Look, we have to go through a clown mouth to get inside — I hate clowns! I'm gonna have nightmares just of that! And then there's that horrid scary laughter — you know I don't like scary stuff! This is gonna be awful!"

"Hannah, it's a funhouse, not a haunted house," her companion sighed. "It's just ... silly, not scary."

"I'm kinda scared, too," Loki piped up. "Maybe if we all go together, it'll be less scary?"

"Awww, now see, how can you say no to that?" Kara asked her friend.

"Well ... I guess we could do that ...." Hannah replied hesitantly.

"Here, why don't we have my brother go first?" Loki suggested.

"Yes!" Hannah quickly agreed. "Er, I mean, if you don't mind?"

Don chuckled and shook his head. "No problem."

Loki was impressed. Not many would willingly turn their back on the Trickster, especially not at the Trickster's behest ....

A few moments later, Don was at the head of the line, with Loki and Jane just behind him and Hannah dragging her heels a few feet back with Kara. "Looks like just a little slide, first," Don reported.

Loki peered past him; the slide was only about four feet long and three feet high — it was practically dropping straight down into the room below. Well, Loki didn't have much magic anymore, but he did still have some mild illusory skills and powers of suggestion ....

"Oh, it's not so little — it looks like fun!" he told his companions, edging his words with power ....

======0  
Wondering what his little brother was planning (and admittedly slightly nervous about it), Don slid down the tiny slide.

It turned out not to be so tiny.

It also wasn't straight, but twisted about, finally setting him gently on his feet. He stepped aside and turned — and found his companions standing next to the mundane slide he'd initially seen.

Everyone but Loki and Don were staring at the slide in befuddlement. Don grinned at the boy, who smiled slyly, quickly reverting to an innocent look when the women turned his way.

"H-how did they do that?" Kara asked.

Jane gave Loki a suspicious glance, but Loki just shrugged in a way that said he was a kid, so how would he know?

Don noticed then that the annoying monster laugh was gone as well, replaced by happy organ music. Frankly, he was as glad of it as Hannah probably was — if she had even noticed the absence.

They turned to face the next obstacle: a large circle on the floor, which rotated about half as quickly as a rotisserie. The walls were padded, as though the thing were supposed to spin much, much faster.

"What sort of challenge is this supposed to be?" Don snorted.

"Oh, it'll probably get faster once we're on it," Loki prophesised.

With Loki having said that, Don didn't doubt it. Sure enough, once they were all standing on it, it began to pick up speed. And then the lights went out for a moment, blinking every other second. Don was pleased that Loki didn't make them blink any faster —- who knew if one of the girls might have a seizure from a faster strobe effect? No, this was just fast enough to be disorienting in an amusing way.

Case in point, the next thing he knew, he and Jane were holding hands, and she was blushing sweetly at him. So that was why Loki had asked Jane to hold his hand — so the kid could play this little game of bait and switch! He was liking having a little brother more and more. Meanwhile, the girls certainly seemed to be enjoying Loki's enhancements, giggling madly — even Jane.

"How do we get off this thing?" Hannah finally gasped through tears of laughter.

"I think we need to focus on reaching the edge of the circle," Loki reckoned, although Don suspected that they really were moving at the same snail's pace the circle originally moved at, and he was just bending their perceptions. "Once we do that, we can try to time it just right and jump off when we get around to the exit. Here, take my hand," the boy offered, and Hannah accepted.

Following Loki's suggestion, they all made it off the circle and to the other side of the room.

The next obstacle was a "barrel of fun" — this variation being a sequence of lights that gave the illusion that the tunnel one was walking through was spinning. Unfortunately, a number of the lights were out, ruining the effect — but of course Loki easily remedied this. In fact, Don suspected the boy made the tunnel feel like it was spinning even more effectively than just the lights working properly would have done. 

The next area actually wasn't bad in its original state: a tilted hallway with objects on the ceiling. Even so, Loki still managed to make it more interesting, by inverting the sensation of gravity so that they really felt upside-down. As they moved along, things were righted again, but then perspective got skewed, making things seem huge from far away yet tiny up close.

Don was also fairly certain that the things that popped out at them as they walked through the hall, the suddenly dropping floorboards, and the jets of air that poofed at them were all additions from Loki. Never mind that a proper funhouse was supposed to have things like that; this hadn't been a proper funhouse in the beginning, and he highly doubted it suddenly became so on its own halfway through. The hallway, which turned a few times, also went on for considerably farther than Don suspected was actually physically possible in the carnival space. He wondered if the TARDIS on Doctor Who was responsible for Loki's inspiration. Or maybe ... "Hey, Lucky, you wouldn't happen to be familiar with Poe's song 'Five-and-a-Half-Minute Hallway', would you? Or its inspiration, her brother Mark Danielewski's book, _House of Leaves_?"

"Neither. Shall I add them to my list?"

Don nodded. He had a feeling the book especially was well-suited to the God of Chaos -- might even read like normal fiction to the kid ....

Next up was the old standby: mirrors. They started out ordinarily enough, with mirrors that stretched and shrunk their reflections. But when they stepped into a circular room of mirrors, as they watched, their reflections all disappeared, as if they were vampires — well, all save those of Loki, who instead disappeared in reality.

"Lucky?" Don asked, alarmed now. Please ... this couldn't be what Jane had feared ... Loki couldn't have been lying all this time, couldn't be "escaping" now ....

 _This is what I was afraid of_ .... Don heard Thor's voice say in his head, could feel Thor's dejection as his own. They both had hoped Loki would stay on the straight and narrow, but, regardless of what Thor had told the boy about how they all could choose their path, there was that niggling fear that Loki wouldn't _want_ to change, that they were being played ....

As if reading his and Thor's mind, the Loki reflections all laughed — and then one winked and beckoned, vanishing into the shadows behind him. The rest of the reflections all bowed and gestured with a hand towards the now-empty space.

"How are they doing this?" Kara asked, Hannah hanging nervously onto her friend's arm.

"Computers," Jane answered easily. "They can do it with anyone in your party."

To prove her point, apparently, an image of Jane appeared where Loki had stood beckoning them; she, too, urged them forward and likewise turning into the darkness.

"Well, when in Rome, do what your reflection does, I guess," Jane said before following herself, tugging Don's hand.

There was a black curtain in that space; beyond it was yet another looking-glass. As they stared into it, Don saw his and Jane's clothes transform, into a tux for him and a wedding dress for her. His heart skipped a beat as he allowed himself to enjoy the image, to think for a moment that he and Jane could have this, that there was no complication in sharing one's body with a god who was also a superhero. The tears glittering unshed in her eyes suggested that Jane was in a similar state. Their reflection changed again, and now they had children beside them — Loki (older, almost a man), Jane's child (whom she had lost custody of), and a pair of four-year-olds that clearly were Don and Jane's. What was this, exactly? Prophecy, or just a trick?

Reality set back in, crushingly, as Kara and Hannah came through the curtain and stood beside them. Don and Jane's images faded back to normal, revealing Loki as he was aged now standing beside them, in both mirror and real world. By the expressions on Kara and Hannah's faces, the pair now saw themselves differently. Whatever they saw prompted a sweet kiss between them, and Don suddenly thought maybe the young women saw something similar to what he'd seen: themselves wed. Then he wondered if Jane had seen the same thing as he had, or something else —perhaps just herself, reunited with her child ....

"Oh!" Hannah cried as she caught site of the companions she had clearly forgotten about. "S-sorry!"

"What for?" Loki asked. "Would you have expected my brother and his girlfriend to apologise for kissing in front of you?" And without waiting for a reply, he grabbed Hannah's hand, turned, and headed into the next room.

There were stairs leading down into a giant ball pit, and Loki led the two young women headlong into it. In a moment, the boy was literally in over his head, swallowed by the pit. Hannah raised her now-empty hand. "Kid? Kid!" she cried, she and Kara suddenly frantically trying to part the ball sea where Loki had just been.

Just before Don joined them, feeling a bit frantic himself, there was a sudden explosion of bright plastic spheres a short ways off. "Over here!" Loki told them, raising his arms and looking for all the world like he was drowning. "Oh" he cried out, immediately being pulled back under.

Don did start digging for his brother then, creating a rainbow-coloured storm of falling plastic.

Kara let out a shriek. "Something's in here — it touched my leg!"

Don's suspicion on that matter was confirmed when Loki's hand burst through the balls beside her. Kara grabbed the appendage and pulled, revealing their lost companion gasping for air.

"I'm too short!" Loki complained. "I can't keep my head above all this! Sorry for scaring you," he added to Kara.

"It's okay — I'm glad it was just you. Here, put one arm around Hannah, and your other arm around me — we'll help you get across."

A few moments later, they were all through the pit and out of the house. The two girls were giggling like loons over the fact that the ball pit turned out to only be about a foot deep after all, and Loki laughed with them.

Don didn't much feel like laughing. In fact, the words that he was holding back for the moment were far from happy.

"You're going to be quite a heartbreaker when you grow up, kid," Hannah was telling Loki, kissing him on the cheek.

"But I don't want to break hearts, I want to mend them!" he protested, looking genuinely alarmed.

Angry as he was, Don couldn't help but feel a stab of pity for Loki at that. Thankfully, the girls just thought the statement was cute, Kara kissing the boy's other cheek, oblivious to Loki's genuine concern.

After Hannah thanked them all for going with her and Kara, Don managed a friendly wave of goodbye to the girls, then circled the back of Loki's neck with a firm hand and steered the youth to a bench in a less populated area.

Loki looked up at him, all trace of mirth replaced by fear; Loki could probably tell that Don was not happy with him. Don felt a stab of guilt for what was about to come, but the boy had to be made to understand ....

"Did ... did I do something wrong? I-I only wanted to give everyone a good time — and I swear I'm not planning on breaking any hearts ...." Loki's eyes grew clouded then. Don realised that the boy did understand — all too well. "You thought I was going to pull something in there," Loki said quietly. "Thought I was going to be bad. You don't ... you don't _trust_ me."

Don sighed and took Loki's shoulders gently in his hands. "I swear to you, I did trust you, wholeheartedly — right up until you disappeared with no explanation, and broke that trust in the process."

"I get it," Loki whispered, eyes glittering. "My past self has given you all plenty of reason to be wary, suspicious — it can't be helped. I should have thought of that myself, that running off like that without warning would look bad. For what it's worth — if anything — I'm am sorry, truly! But I also understand if you can't be sure of my sincerity."

Now Don really felt like a heel. "I won't lie and say there aren't trust issues, no matter how much Thor and I want — and try — to believe in you. But also believe me when I say it's not just the trust issue that had us freaking out a little in there. Don't forget, we almost lost you yesterday when you went off alone — those Asgardians could have killed you! I know we're being overprotective, but, at least for a while, every second you're out of sight and Thor and I don't know where you are, we're going to worry that someone has taken or hurt you!"

Don felt Jane shift uncomfortably beside him. Loki hadn't actually been alone the day before, had gone off at Jane's invitation. Dom hadn't meant to make Jane feel bad, but that didn't change that, even with the best of intentions, she couldn't truly protect Loki ....

"Whether we can trust you or not, we still love you, Loki," Don told him firmly, willing every ounce of feeling and truth behind the words. "Do you understand?"

A tear slid down Loki's nose; he sniffed and, managing a wan smile, nodded.

"But ..." Don went on, hating to make the boy feel any worse, hating the way Loki's shoulders stiffened under his hands, as if bracing for a blow (which, Don supposed, he was), "... what you did with the mirrors at the end, there ... that was painful for me, Loki, and I'm guessing it was for Jane, too. I told you that you shouldn't use your tricks to hurt anyone — I didn't think I needed to qualify that that included mental harm ...."

"H-hurt you ...?" Loki asked, clearly anguished. "What did you see?"

Don blinked. "You don't know? Didn't you create the illusion?"

Loki shook his head. "My magic isn't very strong at all, and it only worked as well as it did because humans minds are easier to influence. For the most part, what each of you saw was really a vision of your own making. But for the mirrors, I got the idea from that Harry Potter book I found in your waiting room — the one that has that mirror that showed what people wanted most? The mirror here was supposed to show you all what each of you wanted most. I ... I-I thought it would make you happy!" Loki looked away, face screwing up in grief, tears falling freely now. "I can't do anything right, can I?" And with that, Loki was off like a bullet, disappearing into the crowd.

"LOKI!" Don cried, hurrying after even though he'd already lost sight of the boy. "LOKI! LOKI!!"

A tug on his shirt stopped Don short. He was, for a split-second, disappointed that it was just Jane, not Loki (and then, of course, felt bad for feeling that way towards her).

"Don, you're not going to find him until he's ready," Jane whispered. "Besides, people know that Asgard is nearby, and there has to be at least a few of them who know who the legendary Loki is and consider him evil. Or there could even be a few actual Asgardians here, checking out the local colour. Either way, it's probably not a good idea to go shouting that name through the crowd — especially if it tips off Thor's enemies that his beloved little brother is off alone somewhere."

Don's stomach sank. He hadn't even considered that! "You're right. I've really got to get used to calling him 'Lucky'."

"Well, for now, we're better off not calling for him at all, or we'll warn him we're nearby when being near us is the last place he wants to be." She took Don's hand and started walking, eyes scanning the crowd.

Don had a disquieting thought. "Jane ... what ... what if he doesn't ever want to be found?"

She squeezed his hand. "Every child wants to be loved and cared for, Don, and he knows that you and Thor do both. He's hurt and embarrassed right now, but he'll get over it. Loneliness usually overcomes fear, sooner or later."

“| ==V== |”  
Needing to catch his breath by the time he reached the other side of the carnival, Loki ducked inside the entrance to a fortune-teller's tent.

"Twenty dollars gets you ten minutes in which to ask me questions about your future," a voice said behind him.

Turning, he found a woman a bit older than Jane, dressed in brightly coloured, multi-layered skirts, a patchwork vest, a silken headscarf, and a multitude of gold bangles — garb vastly different from most Midgardians. Her accent, too, was unlike any he'd yet heard in his short life.

"Thanks, but no. If I want to know the future, I'll ask the Norns," he told the woman. Not that he had twenty dollars anyway.

He heard a scraping sound and looked to the ground, where a crumpled piece of paper rolled up to his foot like tumbleweed. He picked it up and discovered that it was a twenty-dollar bill.

"Looks like your Norns are passing you off on me. Hand me that twenty or get out of my doorway."

Was she right? Did the Norns have a message and were passing it on through this woman? The arrival of the twenty seemed too much of a coincidence. Besides, he wasn't eager to face the crowd — and possibly Don — just yet. Shrugging, he handed her the twenty and followed her into the tent.

Inside were a number of trappings — items with symbols, statuary of mythical beings, stones, tarot cards, and a crystal ball — many of which made Loki's blood sing, calling out to be held, used. But something told him that to touch another magicker's items without permission was to invite trouble, so he kept his hands to himself and sat in the chair opposite the supposed seer. 

He pondered what to ask, what the most effective phrasing was, when the woman, looking into her crystal ball, gave a little gasp. She looked up at him then, wariness tinged with fear spreading across her face.

"You are one of them. One of those who dwell in the floating city. It seems someone indeed has a message for you."

So she didn't know his exact nature. What a curious means for the Norns to contact him!

"There is one who is bonded to you, one whose bond you once misused. This one seeks independence; you must grant it."

Any effort to come up with a question was aborted by this. One who was bonded to him? One who sought independence? He could only think of Thor, who had sought Loki out in the first place. Unless she meant Don? Don hadn't exactly been given a choice in the matter of becoming reacquainted. Loki felt sick to his stomach. Don said he loved him; had he not meant it? Did he resent having any association with Loki?

Or perhaps she meant the Warriors Three and Sif — they who had sworn an oath to protect Loki for Thor's sake. Perhaps one or all of them wished to be freed of their oath? Or perhaps the woman spoke of Jane?

Whatever the case, how did Loki "grant" this person independence? He wasn't aware of holding anyone to him against their will!

Lost in thought as he was, he hadn't been paying attention to the fortune teller beyond the fact that she'd gotten up and walked around. His ankle suddenly itched; he leaned down to itch it, and yelped in pain as the woman brought a heavy candleholder down on his shoulder. He scrambled out of the chair and snatched up the crystal ball, tossing it at her.

"No!" she shrieked, catching it in her arms.

Loki yanked the candle holder out of her hands, causing her to fumble with the crystal for a moment, and held it ready to strike. "Why did you just try to fell me?" he growled. Obviously she had meant to hit his head.

"Why do you think? My Sight rarely works when I call upon it, but around you ... it's like I couldn't close my inner eye even if I wanted to! Do you think I'm about to give that up so easily?"

"So you were going to hold a god prisoner?" Loki asked, incredulous.

"You may be a god, but you don't seem very strong. And my Sight suggests that few would miss you. Whoever needs their independence from you certainly wouldn't, right?"

Loki ignored the sudden stinging in his eyes. "Your Sight must not be that strong if it failed to tell you that Thor himself just made all of Asgard swear to keep me safe. It is only because I snuck away for a bit that you even had a chance to strike me at all! Do not fool yourself into thinking you could keep them from finding me before long — especially not Thor!"

The woman's knees buckled, and she almost dropped her precious crystal ball, her eye filling with tears. "Please forgive me! I only acted out of desperation! I will do anything you ask — please do not bring the wrath of Asgard down on me!"

Loki narrowed his eyes at her, trying to look scary as he mulled the situation over. "You said that you cannot open your Sight at will — so most of the time, you lie to those paying you?"

She squirmed a little. "Not lie, exactly ... I had courses in psychology. I help them think things out — l-like a therapy session."

"Except that's not what they're paying you for. You're misrepresenting yourself."

"I ... I suppose so," she conceded. "But I do have a sign on the door that says this is for entertainment only!"

He rolled his eyes. "Your as bad as bottles of vitamins that say they aren't meant to treat or cure any illness. I'm sure there are people who think you only have that sign posted because someone made you, people who believe in your abilities. Well, I'm here to tell you that you should only tell people that you're having a vision when you really are. The Norns are angry with you. They can sic more than Thor on you, you know."

The woman gulped. "So ... what should I do?"

"The way I see it, you have two choices. Find another, more honest line of work, or find someone to help you better develop your skills."

"And ... if I want to do the latter?"

"Well, you have a city full of gods floating nearby. Seems to me there might be someone there willing to help you. If they're willing to overlook that you just tried to hold me captive. Of course, the Norns are fickle about who they send visions to — and you may not always like what you see." He edged those last words with power.

The woman looked into the ball, and shrieked, dropping it. It cracked in half.

"I think maybe you should give up expecting the Sight to come when you call," Loki mused. "Accept that gift when it deigns to reveal itself, and share the visions freely with those who need them, as the gods mean for you to do. Make your living some other way. Maybe get an actual degree in psychotherapy," he suggested.

She nodded sadly. She took the twenty out of her vest, holding it out to him. "I'm sorry."

"Keep it," he told her, taking her hand and helping her to her feet. "I know you're scared — a new beginning is like that. But trust me when I say the road you were on would have ended soon — and not well." He patted her shoulder, squeezed it, and left, hoping he wasn't making a mistake in letting this trickster have a crack at his unguarded back.

He managed to leave without being struck or otherwise attacked.

He made his way over to the carousel, plopping down on a bench. After a minute or so, he noticed a little girl, around six years old, standing beside his chosen seat, her face pressed so hard against the metal fence around the ride that for a moment he thought perhaps she was stuck. He peeked over the fence, to get a better look at her face; she looked like a sad puppy in a pet store, looking longingly at what she couldn't have.

He looked around, but found no sign of a parental figure. Upon further inspection, he noted that she was more than a little filthy, her hair tangled and unwashed, her clothes stained and torn, and her face, arms, and legs all smudged with dirt. Then again, he thought maybe some of those smudges were bruises .... Her shoes were held together with so much duct tape that at first he wasn't sure there was any actual "shoe" in the mess.

"Hey," he said softly, gently patting her arm. She jumped, startled, and tried to run, but fell back instead, looking up at him with wild, wide eyes. She held a doll tightly to her, one as bedraggled as she, it's hair falling out, it's limbs scuffed, and an eye missing. It wore a dress that was obviously made, with however much love and care, by its child-owner, out of a plastic bread-bag and some twist-ties.

Loki had lived on the street — his memories of before Thor finding him consisted of nothing but that life. But after having lived for a few days now in Thor and Don and Jane's care, he felt sorry for this child. He suddenly felt, with his whole being, that no child should be left to live as poorly as he had and this girl apparently was.

"I won't hurt you," he promised, hands open and palms up. "Are you lost?" he asked.

She shook her head. So, a runaway then. Loki wasn't eager to reunite her with whoever had left her in this state. And he'd heard plenty of horror stories from his street friends in France about what life in government care was like — he wouldn't trust that things were any better in that regard here. No, he would find Don and Jane and see what they could do for the girl — and if that was nothing, he'd help the girl run away again. But first he needed to gain her trust — and since she knew nothing about his true identity, maybe he could actually manage that ....

"Hey, I have some tickets left in my pocket," he told the girl. "I want to ride the carousel, but I don't want to go on alone. Would you ride with me?"

She was like a corpse come to life, then, all smiles and rosy cheeks, nodding vigorously and prancing in excitement.

Was this what Hannah had meant about being a heartbreaker? Because surely this child meant no harm, but Loki felt like his heart was breaking now .....

He dug a pair of tickets out of his pocket and held his hand out to her. "So what should I call you?" he asked, not expecting she would want to give her real name.

"Victoire Amie!" she replied easily, with no hint of hesitation.

Loki didn't believe a child could make up a name like that off the top of their head, though it did seem familiar somehow. Perhaps that was her real name then? Not that it mattered, but if she really did trust him enough to tell him ... well, he could use a bit of that sort of trust right now. In fact, he was tempted to return the favour, until he considered that sensitive ears might be listening — ears that might use him to harm others. "My name's Lucky," he told her. It was close enough anyway.

A few seconds later, he was handing their tickets to the ride jockey and telling Victoire to find the horse she wanted. She ran straight to a winged horse.

"Figures she would be a Valkyrior," Loki chuckled to himself, choosing the steed beside hers — which, oddly, had eight legs. There was something familiar about it, too ....

Two short minutes later, the ride was over, but since there wasn't enough people in line to fill the carousel anyway, Loki handed over the rest of the tickets in his pocket, and the ride jockey agreed to let them just stay on until the tickets were used up. Loki felt terrible for Victoire when their lot was finally up, but she just gave him a big hug and smiled, thanking him for the "best day ever".

What was left of his heart at that point felt like it had been thrown in a blender and put on "whip". 

"Are you hungry?" he asked as they passed through the ride's exit gate.

She nodded, all trace of shyness gone.

"We need to find my brother, and then we can eat," he told her.

"Okay," she replied amiably, taking his hand without even needing prompting.

They hadn't gotten far, though, when she stopped dead in her tracks, fixated on something. Following her gaze, he saw that it was a winged horse plush, one of surprisingly good quality — and just big enough that Victoire could "ride" it.

Loki was cursing the fact that he didn't have any money with which to try to win it for her, when a sound caught his ear; looking down, he found the wind pushing a five-dollar bill against Victoire's foot. "Victoire, look at that!" he said, pointing to it. "If you want, I can try to win that pegasus for you," he added as she picked it up.

"No! I have to win it myself, or it won't count!" she told him, then stomped right up to the carny running the game in question, which turned out to be "Ring Toss". "How do I win the peggysis?" she demanded, pointing to her coveted prize.

The carny snorted. "Darlin', mebbe ya better have yer big bro dere do it for ya—"

"No," she insisted, climbing up on the counter and staring the young man running the game boldly in the eye. "Tell me how."

The carny laughed outright this time. "Suit yerself, kid. Ya gotta get t'ree o' dese rings here over dat gold peg inna middle. It's two-fiddy fer t'ree rings," he added, holding out his hand.

Dismounting from the counter and setting her doll down on it, Victoire then handed him the five, and he handed her six rings in return. Taking her time, Victoire flicked her wrist. It looked like she might even make it! But, unsurprisingly, it bounced off.

Loki quickly realised what the problem was — the pegs around the gold peg were both slightly larger than the others and closer to the gold, so any ring tossed towards the gold peg would hit the others and bounce off of them. Loki suspected that the ring could not even actually fit in the space allotted around the gold peg. Loki couldn't do anything about the pegs, and it didn't seem right to bend everyone's perceptions when Victoire was so adamant on winning by herself, but Loki could make the game more fair by shrinking the rings slightly. Victoire already had another in her hand, but she'd left the rest on the counter, so Loki laid his hand on those and used what little magic he had left in him to make them smaller. Of course, Victoire's second shot also missed, but between Loki's having levelled the playing field, after a fashion, and Victoire's own determination (and astonishing skill, which had drawn a crowd of witnesses to force the point), the no-longer-laughing carny eventually had to, however reluctantly, hand over his largest prize to a six-year-old.

Tucking her doll and the equine awkwardly under one arm, Victoire then reached for Loki's hand, an act which he found oddly comforting.

"Ready to eat?" he asked her, and she nodded. "Okay, like I said, we need to find my brother first. He's tall and blond and wearing a blue shirt." As he took in just how crowded the place was, his heart began to sink. They could pass Don and Jane a hundred times and never know! 

"Like that guy?" Victoire asked, using the hand she held his with to point to whom she meant.

Loki locked eyes with Don then, and his knees almost gave out in relief. He saw the same fear he'd felt a moment ago reflected back at him for a moment in those blue eyes, so like Thor's, and the same relief a second later.

"Lucky! Please don't run off, okay?" Don called out to him. "Just stay there!"

Loki nodded, understanding then that Don was no longer disappointed or angry, and that fact made him even more relieved than finding his brother had. If there was any doubt that Don was happy to see him, it was dispelled when Don grabbed him in a crushing hug, one that suggested that perhaps Thor's power wasn't entirely dormant when Don was in control. Loki noted belatedly that Victoire's grip on his hand was equally unrelenting, actually pulling him down even as Don lifted him up! Loki found, peculiarly, that he didn't really want either of them to let go, even though things were starting to get painful. 

"I'm sorry I left," Loki apologised into Don's shirt with what little air he had left.

Don set him down then and knelt before him, laying a hand on his shoulder. It wasn't as heavy as Thor's, but it was as comforting. "I'm sorry I gave you reason to leave," Don returned. "I shouldn't have made assumptions."

Loki made a dismissive sound, waving his hand to indicate it was over and forgotten. "If we keep apologising to each other, we'll be here after the carnival closes! And don't kneel like that, you'll hurt your leg! There's a bench — come on," Loki said, taking Don's hand and leading both his big brother and Victoire over to it. "Hey, where's Jane?"

"I was about to call her — we split up to find you," Don explained, phone in hand. He was staring at Victoire, though. "Lucky, who's your little friend, here?"

"Victoire Amie!" the child declared. She didn't hold a hand out, though; one hand was busy keeping a firm grip on her prize, and the other was still clamped to Loki's.

======0  
"Where did you find her?" Don asked, unable to shake the feeling that he — or perhaps Thor — knew Victoire somehow. Could she be another lost Asgardian? Kept from returning to the city because she was so young?

"We met by the carousel. She was all alone and I ... I dunno, I just felt like I couldn't leave her." Loki shrugged, looking worried.

"Are you homeless, Victoire?" She certainly looked like it.

She shook her head. "Mommy took her medicine, and when she does, she doesn't make dinner. I was hungry, and the lights were pretty, so I came outside to look at the carny-val and see what I could find to eat in the big buckets."

"Buckets?" Don glanced at Loki, who looked ill.

"I think she means the garbage cans," Loki muttered.

Confirming, Victoire pointed to a wire trash can nearby. "People are always putting good food in the big buckets. Mommy says that's how the rich share with the poor, and if I'm hungry, I should stop bothering her and go outside and look in the buckets."

Don swore quietly and looked away, trying to compose himself. He didn't know all the facts, shouldn't jump to conclusions like he had with Loki, but it was hard not to do that, listening to this child. How could he not assume the worst of a parent who would tell their child to "stop bothering" them and go eat some garbage?

And then a thought occurred to him: Loki had lived on the streets for a while before Thor had found him. Had Loki become familiar with dumpster-diving for food? He looked towards the boy, and found Loki watching him.

Loki shrugged, apparently having read Don's mind. "We all do what we have to. One man's trash is another's treasure, right? Still, learning Three-Card Monte improved my choice of cuisine," he added with a wink.

So Loki had ... some experience with eating trash, but not much. Don supposed he should be grateful that Loki's more questionable activities on the streets had mostly spared him that, at least. And Don could tell that, for all his flippancy about Loki's own condition, the girl's poverty bothered the boy. 

Don knew they should find the girl's mother, but frankly, feeding the child seemed more important at that moment. (It always drove him crazy on those animal rescue shows when the rescuers talked on an on to the camera about how starved the animal was and how they needed to get food in the poor beast, rather than just feeding them already.) As he got in line with the kids for some pizza (and a few other foods he'd promised Loki), he called Jane, letting her know where they were.

"Don ... can I ask ... what did you see in the mirror?" Loki asked him as they waited, sounding pensive. "You don't have to answer if you're not comfortable, I just ...."

"It's okay," Don replied, putting an arm around him and squeezing the boy's shoulder. "It was Jane and I, dressed as if we were getting married, and then us a few years later, with you, and her kid from Keith, and a couple other kids — ours, I assume."

"With me?" Loki repeated, a hopeful light in his eye. "But that sounds nice! So why did it ...?"

"Hurt me?" Don finished. "Because I don't know if Jane and I can ever have that. Sharing my life with a godly superhero means my life will be utterly unpredictable. Jane deserves someone who can put her first, before the rest of the world. Case in point, when Sif was missing, I went to see if she'd been resurrected in Jane, and I asked her that, point blank. No 'How are you, Jane? I've really missed you!' first, just 'Hey, I'm looking for Sif! Is she in your head?' It really upset her, and I don't blame her."

"I seem to remember saying that I understood why finding Sif was important, and later apologising for getting upset," said Jane behind them.

Don wondered how long she'd been standing there. "But you shouldn't have been put in a position where you felt the need to — and I can't promise that you won't again."

"And I can't promise I won't ever get upset or feel neglected again," Jane replied. "But don't I get a say in whether or not I want to risk it? Personally, I think it's worth it to have you in my life. So what do you say, Blake? Isn't the risk of upsetting me better than not being with me at all?"

"It's not like that," Don protested. "I'm not afraid of you being mad at me, I'm afraid of hurting you!"

Jane rolled her eyes. "That's a risk I'd have to take with anyone — so I'd rather stick with the known quantity, if you don't mind, no matter how unpredictable he is." She kissed him for emphasis, cutting off his protest that he couldn't be a "known quantity" if he was "unpredictable".

He really didn't mind.

They reached the front of the food line then, and he fumbled his way through the order.

"So who's your friend," Jane asked Loki as they waited for their dinner order.

"Victoire Amie!"

Jane blinked. "Why does that name seem familiar?" she wondered.

"You too, huh?" Don frowned. Perhaps her mother was a patient?

Jane snapped her fingers. "Victoire is a character in Harry Potter!"

"That can't be it," Loki protested. "I've only read the first book, and I don't recall a character by that name, but it's familiar to me, too."

"And it's not just her first name that's familiar," Don added. "It's that name specifically coupled with the second."

They got their food just then, and settled themselves at a nearby table. As they dug in, Don prompted Loki to repeat his story of how he'd met Victoire.

"Well, hopefully we'll get some clue as to why she seems familiar when we bring her back to her mother." Jane didn't seem enthusiastic about the prospect — even though, as a mother, she surely was thinking of how worried Victoire's mom might be.

Don knew that taking Victoire back to her mother was the moral thing to do, that they couldn't just keep the child — so why was every instinct in him screaming that that taking her to her own home was wrong?

 _Because she belongs in Asgard. I don't know how, but I am certain of it_ , Thor weighed in.

 _We can't just take her, though, either. We'd create an international incident or something_ , Don worried. They had to at least look into her home life, and figure things out from there ....

Loki looked like he wanted to argue against Jane's notion but, like Don, couldn't come up with a workable reason. Don wished the kid would fight against it, even if it was by throwing a temper tantrum or something likewise unreasonable ....

Apparently Loki was too busy eating, though, reaching out for another slice of pizza. "Ah!" he cried out suddenly, wincing and grabbing his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Don asked, wondering if this was some residual wound from the beating the boy had gotten the day before.

"N-nothing," the Lord of Lies unsuccessfully hedged.

Frowning, Don came to sit beside the boy and pulled at the kid's collar. He found an ugly bruise there; probing, he reckoned nothing was broken, at least.

 _I shall kill Greta for her failure_ , Thor growled.

"Thor's none to happy with that healer at the moment," Don shared. "Did she really leave this on you?"

Loki looked alarmed. "No!" And then the boy told them about his encounter with a fortune teller.

"Now Thor wants to go after her," Don sighed.

"Well, that would be short-sighted of him," Loki replied. "I'm fairly certain she's not going to try kidnapping a god again, and her ability could help someone someday."

"How do you know she really has any ability?" Jane asked.

"Well, having money roll up to my feet twice in one day, and just the right amount each time for the situation at hand? I don't think that's a coincidence. Some force, whether it's the Norns or someone else, wanted me to talk to that fortune teller. Besides, why try to capture me otherwise?"

"So what do you think the message meant?"

"I'm not sure," the little liar hedged again.

"But you have a theory?"

Loki fidgeted unhappily. "I thought the bond she was referring to might be Thor — or you. That I should ... go away."

Don grabbed his brother's hand and squeezed. "Well, you tried that already, and I went looking for you. Thor too — he's always here," he added, pointing to his head.

Loki shrugged, head bowed. "She might have meant the Warriors, or Sif, or Jane ...."

"Not me," Jane said adamantly; Don almost reached across the table and kissed her then. "And even if the woman is a Seer, that doesn't mean the message came from someone who can be trusted."

"That's true!" Loki agreed, suddenly perking up.

Don was glad; the child had so few people in his life, he couldn't bear the thought of the boy having to lose any of them. Besides, Sif and the Warriors were showing definite signs of warming up to the boy. Maybe others would follow suit, in time ....

Moving back to the other side of the table, Don noticed Victoire staring longingly at the Ferris Wheel as she absently stuffed cheese-covered nachos in her mouth.

"You know, I still have four ride tickets left," Don remarked, still not eager to return the child to her mother. "What say we go on the Ferris Wheel after we eat?"

"Can we?" Victoire asked eagerly. "Peggysis wants to go up in the sky!"

"Sure," Jane said, giving Don a look that said she knew he was stalling the inevitable, but she also couldn't really blame him.

Finished with their meal, they got on the Ferris Wheel, all four of them managing to squeeze into one cab, Don and Jane on the outsides, Loki next to Don and Victoire next to Jane. They were stalled an inordinate amount of time one position before the very top, as the ride jockey seemed to be having problems. Watching Victoire glance about with eyes and smile wide, Don couldn't say he minded the delay.

As they waited, Don felt Loki's head come to rest against his arm. The boy woke with a start at the contact.

"Sorry!" Loki mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

Don put his arm around his little brother and ruffled his hair. "It's okay, really — you lasted longer than I thought you would after that massive healing yesterday. It's understandable that you'd be tired after such a long day today!"

"I tried to take a nap when you did this afternoon, but I was too excited to sleep," Loki admitted.

"Well, go ahead and rest — that's half of what this ride is for," Don chuckled, pulling his little brother close so that Loki could use him as a pillow.

Loki's response was a quiet snore. Don and Jane exchanged fond smiles.

"Look how high we are, Peggysis!" Victoire exclaimed as their cab started moving again, reaching the wheel's apex.

"Almost high enough to touch the stars, huh?" Jane asked with a grin, smoothing back Victoire's hair, ignoring the tangles.

Don wished they could stay up there for hours, but he supposed if wishes were pegasi, Victoire wouldn't need the Ferris Wheel. When they were a turn away from the ground, he reluctantly woke the groggy Loki.

"Victoire, can you lead us to your house?" Jane asked the little girl, who nodded.

When they'd gotten about halfway through the carnival, after watching Loki drag his feet like a zombie, Don stopped over by a bench and hunched over before it.

"Hop up on my back. I'll carry you," Don ordered.

"But ... your leg!" Loki protested. "You can't use your cane if you're carrying me!"

"Sure I can," Don insisted. "Come on, I've never gotten to do this before — I never had a little brother to give piggyback rides to! If I need to stop, I'll tell you."

Hesitant, Loki did as Don asked, using the bench to climb up, wrapping his arms around Don's neck. Don wrapped his arms under Loki's knees. It was awkward, but he managed to support Loki's left leg with just his forearm, leaving his hand free to use the cane. It wasn't long before Loki's grip loosened, as he lightly snored into Don's neck. [Don readjusted his grip a bit, raising Loki higher on his back and hunching over more so the kid wouldn't slide off](https://wolfenm.deviantart.com/art/Thor-Sleepy-Little-Loki-216703096).

"Are you sure you don't want me to carry him?" Jane asked, holding a still-wide-awake Victoire's hand.

"I got it," Don assured her. And he did; he wasn't tired, and his leg actually bothered him less than usual. He wasn't about to give up the contentedness he felt right now; any potential discomfort was worth it.

A thought occurred to him: if Thor's emotions could bleed over, could his strength, too? Was Thor somehow helping him to carry Loki?

 _You have always seemed to understand this sort of thing better than I,_ Thor remarked. _All I can say for certain is that I hoped for you to come know the sort of fun and joy I found with Loki when we were younger, so that someone besides me would want to look out for him._

Don chuckled silently. _Maybe we should get the Warriors and Sif to come out with us to the carnival tomorrow ...._

Don glanced at Jane then, and found her smirking. "What's so funny?" he asked her.

"Lucky's drooling on you," she revealed.

Oh. So that's what that was. Well, the drool was worth it too.

“| ==V== |”  
A soft voice and a gentle shake called to Loki through the pleasant void, luring him back to the waking world.

Unfortunately, waking up involved a great deal of disorientation. The world swam crazilly, stars swimming overhead.

"Whoa! I gotcha!" Jane told him, and he realised she was the one who had pulled him out of that lovely, dreamless place.

The world settled as he remembered that Don was carrying him; Jane had just kept him from falling off. With Jane's help, Don set Loki on his feet. They were outside a run-down cinderblock house; turning, he could see the lights of the carnival not far off.

"We're at Victoire's house," Jane explained, sounding sad.

Loki wasn't exactly happy with the news either, though he couldn't pinpoint why it upset him so. Well, besides the fact that the girl's mother didn't sound like the best of mothers. No, there was something else about this that was nagging at him ....

Pondering it, he watched as Victoire fetched a key from under a rock and unlocked the door. They followed her inside, and Loki wrinkled his nose at the smell of the place. Dishes with food still inside them sat in and about the sink, and flies milled around. Clothes and junk-food wrappers were scattered over the counter, as were a few overflowing ashtrays. A woman lay in the middle of a filthly rug, with a needle, candle, spoon, and a bit of rubber at her side: heroine trappings.

Jane hurried to the woman's side, checking for a pulse. After a few moments, she nodded at Don. "She's just asleep."

Victoire nodded. "She'll wake up in the morning; she always does." And with that, Victoire went to a corner and began to play with her tattered doll and Peggysis. 

Loki sat down on a battered couch. A pile of mail was spilled across the coffee table before him, addressed to a number of individuals but all with the same PO Box. One name occurred several times, leaping out at Loki, feeling like a punch in the gut.

"Alma Seaggin ...." he said to himself.

"What?" Don said, snapping to attention. Why did he look so alarmed?

"This mail," Loki said, gesturing to the pile. "There's a few different names here, but for some reason this name ... Alma Seaggin ... it's familiar, like Victoire Amie ...."

Don sat down heavily beside him. "Thor's figured it out. Looks like the message you got from the fortune teller may have had to do with Victoire."

Loki wasn't sure he wanted to hear this, but there was part of him that hungered for the information, desperate to know something of his forgotten history, even if it might not be pretty.

"Loki ... your past self was married under some ... questionable circumstances, but despite this, your wife was utterly devoted to you — so much so that Odin named her the Goddess of Fidelity."

Loki felt sick. "So I was bonded to Victoire here, and misused that bond."

"I ... I think that may be what the message meant, yes. Your wife's name was Sigyn — spelled differently but pronounced the same as this woman's last name. I read a story with a character named Alma, and her name meant 'mother', so if that story was right, this woman is probably the 'Mother of Seaggin'. And according to Thor, Sigyn, roughly translated, apparently means 'victory girlfriend'."

"Victory girlfriend," Loki repeated, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of him. "Victoire Amie. French for 'victory female friend'. But ... we aren't still married, right? Since we're both just kids?"

"I wouldn't think so," Don agreed.

"Well then, how do I grant her her independence without a divorce?"

They and Jane sat together quietly for a while, thinking.

Jane snapped her fingers. "What if you're not the one she needs independence from?"

"You don't think so? But if I'm the one who married her under false pretenses ...."

"But you suggested it yourself: with this new life, with you both being children, you aren't married anymore. Still, you probably owe her some help, and who is she dependent on now?" Jane motioned with her head towards Alma.

Suddenly everything clicked into place for Loki. He knew bringing her back to her mother wasn't right! Or rather, the idea of leaving her there wasn't.

He stood up and came over to where Victoire was playing. "What do you want to do?" he asked her.

"I want to fly away on Peggysis," she replied simply, pretending the winged horse was flying away with her doll on its back.

Loki nodded, satisfied. He knelt beside Alma and shook her awake.

The woman stared blankly at him for a moment, then scooted back. "Hey! Who the hell are you? Get outta my house!"

"Victoire's not your daughter, is she?" Loki asked bluntly. "You found her wandering, alone and confused, a few months go, and you thought she might be useful — in cons, or as an errand girl, or as a maid — that's why everything below Victoire's reach is cleaner than above, right? You took her in to be your slave."

"What the hell are you talkin' about? Of course she's my daughter! And how dare you—"

"Victoire has very obviously been neglected," Loki interrupted, his voice quiet but commanding — and dangerous. "I think social services could make things very messy for you. My brother here is very big and very strong. He could easily make sure that you don't leave while we wait for the authorities. And he's very well connected with the government, so they'd be here faster than you could blink. Or, you could just let us take her, no questions asked."

Alma's eyes narrowed. "Why would you do that for me?"

"Idiot! I wouldn't be doing it for _you_ ," Loki sneered. "It would make everything easier for Victoire, not having to go through the system. I'm asking you not to put up a fuss about us taking her, for her sake. If you fight us on this, tell anyone about our having claimed her or try to regain custody of her, you might very well start a war with Asgard," he added, willing his true clothes to appear for a moment. "I like Midgard. I'd rather not destroy it if I didn't have to."

Alma swallowed hard. "Go ahead. Brat's more trouble than she's worth."

And that was that. They helped Victoire gather her few meager belongings, wiped their fingerprints from the place, and walked out the door. Part of Loki wondered if they should just leave the woman unpunished like this, but then he figured she would die from the heroine sooner or later. Best to limit Asgard's involvement, for politics' sake. He didn't want to start an extraterrestrial incident, or whatever it would be called in these particular circumstances ....

When they got back to Don's house/clinic, Jane immediately took Victoire to the bathroom to wash up. Loki and Don chatted about the carnival, careful to avoid any sensitive topics like the funhouse, or the fortune teller, or Victoire.

"You did good back there, kid," Don told him when there waqs finally a lapse in the conversation, reaching out and ruffling his hair.

"Yeah, well ... it sounds like it was the least I could do for her," Loki shrugged. Don's words made him feel good, but at the same time, he wasn't convinced that he deserved the praise.

"Some might argue that you cleaned up someone else's mess," Don pointed out. "You wouldn't do what your past self did — that's the whole point of you being resurrected as your younger self, isn't it? You have a chance to become a better man than you did last time, and using your particular skills to save that little girl from a terrible life was a step in the right direction, I'd say. But how did you know she wasn't actually Alma's kid? The other Asgardians were merged with pre-existing Midgardians ...." 

"No child who lived with that woman would have survived for very long, I think, much less six years. And from the sounds of it, Victoire is like me: she wasn't merged with a Midgardian who had her own life before the merge; she's always been just herself. If she's the Goddess of Fidelity, and she was only with Alma a few months, then I think she came back when I did — and as a child, like me — as a remnant of the bond we had in our past lives. That's why she didn't appear when Thor put out the call — she hadn't even left the void yet. Somehow, I brought her with me, or she followed me — either way, it probably meant that only I could find her."

Don nodded thoughtfully. "Thor agrees with your theory. I wonder why she didn't come back with you the first time, though ...."

"Maybe my old self didn't want her to, and somehow kept her from doing so?" Loki asked unhappily. "Or maybe she was glad to be rid of me, to be free." He wasn't sure which was the more upsetting explanation.

"Well, if it's the latter case, then that must mean she feels you're worth associating with now," Don pointed out.

As if to prove Don right, Victoire, released from the bathroom, ran straight to Loki and wrapped her arms around him in a surprisingly crushing hug. 

"I had a bubble bath!" she informed him, then hurried over to Don and gave him the same treatment. "I've never had one before! It was fun!"

Loki couldn't help but grin at her happy enthusiasm, even as he felt inexplicably sad. Victoire didn't have to stay with Alma anymore, and Alma was, it seemed, the one the fortune teller was referring to when she said Loki had to grant Victoire independence, not him, so why should he be sad? Victoire seemed to like his company, if the hug was any indication ....

Then he remembered what he'd asked Victoire back at Alma's place, and what her answer had been ....

"So what exactly are we going to do with our little friend, here?" Jane asked. "Say she's my little sister?"

"It's already decided," Loki replied. "Don, can you trade places with Thor, for a moment? We need Mjolnir."

Don and Jane exchanged confused glances before Don replied, "Uh, sure ...." He took up his cane, did his thing, and a moment later Thor and Mjolnir were in their place.

Thankfully, Thor understood what Loki wanted. He held the hammer out to Victoire, who now had Peggysis firmly in her grasp again. Without being prompted, she took hold of the handle.

A moment later, there was a winged foal and a viking child standing in Don's living room. And they walked through the coffee table.

"She wants to be a Valkyrior, Jane," Loki explained, ignoring the tightening of his throat and the burning in his eyes. "The toughest of viking women, self-sufficient, and whom none but the King of Asgard dare to command. She wants to go to Valhalla — and the fact that she's now in astral form suggests that she has been accepted amongst their ranks." Which meant he would seldom see her either. None but Valkyrioir and the dead had any business in Valhalla, and he wasn't looking to die again anytime soon.

"Oh ... I guess this is goodbye, then," Jane said, clearly holding back tears for Victoire's sake. She reached out to hug the child, but her arms went through her.

"Come to Asgard somewhen, and we may touch again. Promise me, Jane," the child said.

Jane smiled fondly, eyes glittering. "I promise."

Victoire turned to Thor and knelt. "My thanks, Odinson, Prince of Asgard, for my freedom and for granting my wish."

"You are welcome — shall we call you Sigyn or Victoire?" Thor asked.

"For this new life, Victoire, I think," she decided, smiling. She turned to Loki then. "We can stay friends, can't we? Can I come to Asgard to see you?"

"If that is your wish, lady, then I would be most glad and blessed to call you friend for as long as you would have me do so. I will ever be at your service," he added, bowing deeply, as much out of respect as to shed a tear without anyone being able to see it.

"Then farewell, my dear ones, until we meet again," Victoire said, mounting the foal. Victoire waved goodbye, and with a whinny, the foal lept through the ceiling.

Loki sniffed and wiped his eyes. Thor put his arm around him, giving a comforting squeeze. And then Don stood beside him instead, and did likewise, Jane doing the same on the other side.

"I think we could all use some hot chocolate to drown our sorrows, and a good movie to cheer us up," Jane suggested.

Loki couldn't argue with that. 

======0  
Head resting against Don's leg, Loki was fast asleep long before the movie was over. Jane, too, was sleepy, snuggled against Don's other side. Don found himself — with Thor for company — watching Jane and Loki as much as the movie, occasionally carding their hair affectionately with his fingers. For a while, Don even felt like he and Jane were the Loki's parents, that they were a family, and this time he let himself enjoy the feeling, didn't let it get him down or try to convince himself that a family was something he couldn't have.

After all, however weird of a family they might be, they _were_ a family, weren't they?

~FINIS~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must say, I had fun doing research on carnivals for this one! :D
> 
> Forgive me if I have missed details in the comics that negate this story in any way. XD It's probably going to get seriously Jossed by canon at some point anyway ....
> 
> A few explanations for people who have not read the comics: Donald Blake was never a real Midgardian: he was originally created by Odin as a mortal shell for Thor, to force Thor to learn humility. However, for the sake of her husband, Loki, Sigyn tried to tamper with the Donald shell and ended up accidentally destroying it altogether, thus forcing her to make a new one. Therefore, in a way, Donald is the son of Sigyn. XD Donald eventually came to have his own sense of self, though, and he and Thor have even been two separate beings entirely on occasion, when Thor and Blake came back essentially from the dead. When Thor was injured at one point and his consciousness was in the Odinsleep, Blake found himself able to walk about independent of Thor. And what did he do with that time? He went to see Jane -- not to see her for herself, but to see, for Thor's sake, if Sif's consciousness was caught inside Jane, since Sif had not answered Thor's call. Jane was kinda pissed that he didn't even take the time to see how she was before asking if Sif was inside her, but she later apologized for getting so angry, and eventually she joined his practice in Braxton, Oklahoma.
> 
> Most Asgardians, when they left the void, were drawn into human hosts that matched them in temperment, but if I understand things right, Thor was able to call the Aesir forth from those mortal shells, and the mortals resumed their pre-Aesir-connected lives. When Loki returned, he somehow came to inhabit Sif's *Asgardian* shell for a time, then took back his own "body", then was destroyed. When Thor wished for his brother back, Loki was returned to Midgard as a younger version of himself, which was semi-awakened by touching Mjolnir -- it does not seem that he ever inhabited a Midgardian body, hence my making Sigyn/Victoire only Asgardian as well.
> 
> According to what I've managed to find online about the Marvel version of the Valkyrior, Odin, as part of a promise to limit Asgard's interactions with Midgard, made it so that the Valkyrior can only be in astral form outside of Asgard. This might not apply to a *new* Valkyrior, but for the story's sake, I'm going to say it does. Victoire was always a Valkyrior in my head, but didn’t start out being Sigyn; that came to me later, as a way to better bond her with Loki / explain why she didn't come when Thor called forth the rest of the Aesir.
> 
> Alma is a real name -- it actually means "fostering mother", but my first encounter with the name was in _Birth of the Firebringer_ , where there's a goddess named Alma who is called "The Mother of the World".
> 
> There's more Loki stuff (and other Marvel fanworks), including links to my "Looking at Loki" column, and my Loki cosplays and crafts, to be found at my [Marvel fansite](http://mc.wolfenm.com). I also have a Trickster-oriented tumblr blog, [hellyeahtrickster](http://hellyeahtrickster.tumblr.com).

**Author's Note:**

> ###########  
> If you've enjoyed my writing, I invite you to explore my original fantasy storyverse, [Gaiankind](http://gaiankind.com)! You can even find Gaiankind stories for free [here](http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Gaiankind) on AO3!


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